Why.

(This post addresses questions asked in the previous post, entitled "Why?"  You may wish to read it first.)

Imagine triune God, before creation.  The Father, Son and Holy Spirit exist in exquisite fellowship.  They are utterly complete and wholly happy.  They lack nothing.  They need nothing. 

They want something, however.  They want to give.   They want to share.  They want to expand the volume (so to speak) of their happiness and joy.  They want others to share in their glorious being and existence.  They want to share with others their goodness, kindness and love.

How would God go about doing that? 

What God decided to do is stunning in its beauty and its power!  God chose to make Himself known by 1) creating a world populated by people, who would come to know suffering and death, then 2) entering into that world in order to suffer as a human (and tell of God's grace and forgiveness) and, finally, 3) submitting to His own sentence of death, thereby making the payment that He had decreed as the penalty for sin.

God didn't have to do that; but He wanted to do it; He planned to do it before the creation of the world – so we could share in His glory.  Because He has fully entered into the human experience, God now can be known to us and we can have fellowship with Him.  In Him we find our soul’s satisfaction. 

None of this would be possible without the pain and suffering to which Jesus willingly, even joyfully, submitted.  Likewise, it is in the midst of our pain and suffering that we can find our greatest fellowship with God.  If we, like Jesus, faithfully endure pain and suffering, we will “share in his glory.” (Rm. 8:17) 

You can rejoice in your pain and suffering; because it is a means of immense and eternal gain for you.  Your pain has afforded you a glorious opportunity to enter into greater and greater fellowship with Jesus.  You have reason to rejoice!

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